Widespread Pain and Central Sensitization in Adolescents with Signs of Painful Temporomandibular Disorders

Aims: To investigate the associations between signs of painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and number of tender points (TPs) and fibromyalgia in adolescents, as well as the relationship between TPs and pressure-pain threshold (PPT) in individuals presenting with local, regional, or widespread pain as a way to investigate the presence of central sensitization (CS). Methods: The sample consisted of 690 Brazilian adolescents with and without signs of painful TMD, aged 12 to 14 years old. Painful TMD was classified according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD) Axis I. The criteria established by Yunus were applied to assess juvenile fibromyalgia and TPs. Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests were applied to test the associations between signs of painful TMD and demographic variables. Regression models were used to estimate the association between signs of painful TMD and number of TPs and to determine which additional predictive variables were associated with TPs. Regression analyses were performed to test the associations between PPT values and number of TPs. Fisher test was used to estimate the association between signs of painful TMD and FM. Results: Significant associations between signs of painful TMD and the number of TPs (P .001), as well as between TPs and the PPT values for local, regional, and widespread pain (P .001), were found. No association between signs of painful TMD and fibromyalgia was found (P = .158). Conclusion: Individuals with signs of painful TMD presented with more TPs compared to pain-free adolescents. Moreover, the higher the number of TPs, the lower the PPT. This finding suggests that adolescents with signs of painful TMD are at increased risk of presenting with CS. Keywords: adolescent, central sensitization, fibromyalgia, pain, temporomandibular disorders